World Swim Champs

[Anonymous]

they should just ditch all those records to be honest... it is the suits..

but they wont.. very interesting article today in the times, and they listed all the world records in womens athletics, held by mainly eastern europeans and a certain american girl, that where broken between 1985 and 1988, countries where organised state supported doping was in place, and have been unbroken since, in fact, current olympic champions have not even got close.. i think we will see a similar thing in swimming in 20 years..

 

[Aapjes]

Of course suits is very helpful. But most of the swimmers have similar techniques, sometimes one or 2 can be more dominant but its unlikely, so strength becomes the key factor to win.

Nonsense. Before the special suits came along, the swimmers needed a good body shape and good technique to win. Afterwards, we see body builders winning (like Alain Bernard). The suits shape the body and reduce the required effort so much that swimmers with a less efficient technique can win. Before, their inefficient style would cost them at the end of the race.

In many ways the suits are similar to doping. It provides the greatest advantage to 'good responders' and swimmers with a deficiency that are remedied by the suit. When the suits get banned next year, it will be hell for these swimmers. I can see swimmers retiring because they will suddenly be beaten by swimmers that they easily beat before. It will be ugly.

 

[keen_but_slow]

Nonsense. Before the special suits came along, the swimmers needed a good body shape and good technique to win. Afterwards, we see body builders winning (like Alain Bernard). The suits shape the body and reduce the required effort so much that swimmers with a less efficient technique can win. Before, their inefficient style would cost them at the end of the race.

In many ways the suits are similar to doping. It provides the greatest advantage to 'good responders' and swimmers with a deficiency that are remedied by the suit. When the suits get banned next year, it will be hell for these swimmers. I can see swimmers retiring because they will suddenly be beaten by swimmers that they easily beat before. It will be ugly.

You're dead right. I had a first generation suit and you go faster. Not as much as a wetsuit but over a second per 100m. They wouldn't affect everyone equally at all and the records should be scratched. Nothing above the waist and nothing down the thigh. Popov was the man!

 

[krebs303]

At $800 a suit, and with the lifespan of a suit being only a dozen swims (if that, take a look at the picture at the bottom (pardon the pun) of the post)

 

[fatandfast]

Aug,2nd Wall Street Journal,Allen Barra did an article about FINA(governing body of swimming) banning "Super suits".The suits made a difference and became to hard to regulate.The impact of the sport of swimming will be big.Like lots of other people who have worked with Jr. athletes they get so much feed back from people and web sites, reducing their sport to drugs and technology. In the case of young bike racers.They feel they must have a $3000 bike to compete at even the lowest levels.All people that have achieved anything in cycling will tell you that having a great bike is important after you have develop as a racer but training and technique are more critical than carbon fiber.Many great racers stared by doing a public race or a kids class at a velodrome in tennis shoes.Technology can play a big part in breaking records but the super high price can also break the spirits of the youngest racers.

 

[ThisFrenchGuy]

So the suits will be banned but some records will be held?

Isn't that the worst possible solution?
WRs are quite a seller in terms of TV coverage and all.

 

[No Chain]

Better than the suit.

 

[Cloxxki]

I know another Olympian winner swimmer with ADHD. Deals with it (no meds at all) by training 40 hours per week, working a full 40 hour per week job, and taking on all kinds of extra study courses. Not sure it is the way to get very old in good health, but hey, people have done much worse things to be a succes in sports, let alone in life.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Swimming??

No Blood-Tests since 2004, no out-of-competition tests anymore. If pipo say the records come from the swim-suits, then the TdF should be driven now at Avg. 50 km/h, coz they have better material too.

Remember, even in the 60s the Avg. Speed was at around 36 km/h in the TdF. Thats 40+ years ago with longer stages and heavier bikes etc.

Cycling is bad, but Swimming, Track&Field, Football is wayyyyy worse.

 

[swiss_ironx]

Spolit, multi choice to many distances, strokes prizes for everyone and protected in their little lanes. One for the girls I am afraid.

Good entertainment at best.

 

[Galic Ho]

How you would beat the 25 year old WR of this lady, however, I have no idea.

Eastern Europeans. Gotta love the glorious East Germans. Doped to the eyeballs they were.

I dont hate Phelps either but I do think it is wrong that his coach manipulates the system so he can take amphetimenes legally and most of all i hate that all the "journalists" who rip cycling for drug use do not even bother to ask "what meds do u take?"

Nice try but Bob Bowman didn't manipulate the system. Swimming isn't as rigorous as cycling with testing. Did Phelps test positive for marijuana? No. Did he mistakenly pick up a bong and have his picture taken? Yes. Is that a serious crime? Depends who you ask. Phelps still did a 3 month suspension...big deal.

Being an aussie we tend to get a lot of tv footage of swimming champs and the pan pac games. There are two things I never thought I'd see happen in swimming. Ian Thorpe's world 200m and 400m freestyle be broken. Sure Phelps broke the 200m before the Olympics, but its Phelps in a Speedo LZR. But the 400m by a German who couldn't make the semis @ the Olympics a year before, who broke his PB by 7.5 seconds to smash the WR. Ridiculous.

Even better Katie Hoff doesn't race the 200IM. She came second to Stephanie Rice at the Olympics where both went under the previous world record. Now her unknown teammate races in her absence and not only beats the Olympic champion Rice but smacks almost a second off the WR in the semi. Rice comes out in the final and beats this new record to finish second whilst the newcomer taking the best chunk of a second off her own record, set the day before, to win.

Put it this way the 2000 Olympic 200m womens butterfly champ Susie O'Niell stated that they're going over 2 seconds faster than she did to win gold and set a WR. She admits the world champ is better than her but the suits have made mediocre swimmers world hits. Take the french men. Useless two years ago, now with their Arena suits (tailor made by a french company) the best in the world, these guys are annihilating records.

Get rid of the new polyeurethane suits pronto and stop the extra bouyancy inefficient swimmers gain. While their at it FINA should wipe all the records post Athens 2004. Champions back up, year after year in swimming. The suits are jading the results and I believe allowing some dopers to temporarily excuse sudden improvements. Take the two Chines girls who beat Jessica Schipper in Beijing and broke her world record by 1.5 seconds in the 200 butterfly. They didn't back up at the world champs. I thought they were doping last year and I am more convinced now.

 

[kukiniloa]

not really...

Because swimming is such a huge cash cow for network television. Oh wait....

Football, baseball, basketball, and realy football overseas,that argument makes sense. Making it for swimming is like making it for curling or hockey.

these are small organizations, and a few millions speaks very loudly. And for all those involved in the sporting organizations, it's business...

When these folks spend their lives coaching, or administrating, or whatever, and see the opportunity to make a few extra $$$, the will certainly look the other way, especially given the megabucks truly corrupt sports like the NFL and MLB rake in.

How much scrutiny is the NFL under for doping? Ask any fan, they're all under the delusion that the NFL is doping free...

But all you idiots care about is whether LA doped!